Stray Chats Always Come Back
by Merrymiscellaneous
Summary: Cute little collection of MariChat oneshots. Chat just can't seem to avoid coming back to Marinette's house-But as they say, stray cats always come back. Make sure to leave a comment and tell me what you think!
Marinette Dupain-Cheng trudges up the stairs to her room after an especially hard day at school. Chloe was still wreaking havoc as usual, Sabrina right by her side. Thank her lucky stars that she had Alya by her side, keeping her sane and holding her up when things got especially hard. Marinette tosses her backpack onto her bed in annoyance, all her books falling out of the bag in the process.

"You've got to be kidding me!" She mutters under her breath while collecting her discarded textbooks. Marinette sits down on the side of her bed, holding her face in her shaking hands.

Today had been terrible.

She laughs dryly , closing her eyes and leaning back. "Could my luck get any worse?"

A new voice spoke from her right, startling her from her pity party. "Well, I have been known to bring bad luck." The smooth voice teases from the open hatch. She hastily wipes away the salty tears that were beginning to form in her eyes, plastering a smile on her face.

"Oh!...Chat! I-I wasn't expecting you to visit today!" She cringes at how pathetic and shaky her voice sounds. Chat's easy smile falls off his face and his eyebrows furrow in worry.

"Princess?..Are you okay?" He asks quietly, stepping closer to her, concern evident on his features. He places his gloved hands on her shoulders as he studies her tear stained face.

"I-I'm fine, Chat." Her voice cracks and his emerald eyes widen, his grip tightening around her shoulders.

"Who did this to you." She is surprised at how icy his voice is as he glares at the floor.

Marinette takes a shaky breath. "It's not important anymore, Chat. I don't want to burden you." She shakes his hands off her shoulders and turns her back to the superhero, scooping up her textbooks and bringing them to her desk on the opposite side of the room. Chat stays put, still glaring at the floor with his fists clenched. He slowly looks up at her, his jaw clenched and his face painted with disbelief.

"A burden? Burden? Is that what you think you are?" His voice becomes louder, and Marinette shrinks away. Chat sees this and immediately calms down, slowly stepping closer to her. He grabs her hand and laces his fingers with hers. "M-Marinette, you could never be a burden to me. Ever. Just please-please tell me who did this." He pleads, gripping her hand tighter.

"I-it's this girl at my school. Her name is Chloe. You probably remember her, you and Ladybug had to babysit her one time during an akuma attack." She glances over at him for confirmation and he nods his head, urging her to go on. Boy, does he remember Chloe. Not only does he remember her, he has to put up with her every day of his life. His skin crawled at the thought of the prissy rich girl.

"I'm partnered with her for a project and she's making my life a living hell. To keep it sweet and simple-words hurt sometimes, you know? I guess all her words from over the years just came crashing down on me today. It's nothing." She sniffles and wipes her eyes, holding her head high. Adrien had never seen her like this before. She looked so broken, yet so strong. She spoke softly and her voice was now steady, he couldn't tell if her confidence was real or fake. Adrien felt respect for her flood him, all because Marinette had put up with Chloe for so long. Yes, in reality, he had delt with the stuck up blonde for longer, but her relationship with Adrien is well-er, different. Surprising both of them, Chat pulls her into a tight hug. He pulls her closer and he almost sighs because it feels so _perfect_. She feels so perfect in his arms that it was almost like he was floating. Marinette smells like freshly baked bread and vanilla, a scent which described her perfectly.

"Thank you, Chat." She whispers into his leather clad shoulder. Chat never wants this moment to end, he wants to stay here with her for all eternity. But, luck never seemed to be on his side. His ring beeps and he curses Plagg under his breath. _Not now, please not now._ Marinette jumps away in surprise, flushed and embarrassed.

"You should go, don't you have Paris to save or something?" She teases softly, her rotten mood brightening.

"Are you sure you'll be okay, Princess?" He questions, standing up and heading to the open hatch.

"Yeah, I'm a big girl. I don't always need my prince around to save me." She pushed him lightly towards the hatch with a teasing smile.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I won't always be there for you." His tone is serious and he watches her playful smile turn into a genuinely grateful one. Marinette hugs him tightly and laughs breathlessly.

"Yeah, I guess that's right. I'll-uh-see you around." Waving at him as he goes, he feels like he couldn't be happier-even though their meeting started out on such a sad note. Chat feels giddy as he remembers that he had said my prince. He was her prince. As he jumps onto another building, he lets out the laugh that is bubbling inside his did he feel so giddy? Chat ponders this as he nears his destination, before nearly slipping and falling off the building he's jumping on. The masked superhero abruptly comes to a realization, one that terrified him.

 _He would never have left if Marinette hadn't pushed him to leave._

He would've stayed there all night with her if he could've, even after his transformation wore off. And that thought scared him, it was careless. He was willing reveal his secret identity rather than leave her, it was pathetic. What would Ladybug say if he saw Chat being so careless? He probably didn't want to know. He almost decided to go back to Marinette's house but she was probably fast asleep now. Ever since Evillustrator incident, he seemed to come around to the hatch of her room more often, lingering on her balcony. Marinette opened up to Chat more than she did Adrien, which was fine beacuse his superhero persona was far more confident. She was just so kind and warm that he was somehow drawn to her, in and out of school.

Adrien already knew that this wasn't the last time he would visit her house this week.


End file.
